Puppy
by dimension7
Summary: Product of drunken mania.  How exactly do the masterminds of a terrorist organization come across and decide to keep a seven year old child anyway?  This is a little guess, thrown together at random.  Cain gets Isaak a puppy.
1. Chapter 1

Crimson puddles greeted me upon stepping into Isaak's study. The heavy smell of his blood affronted me, I could tell he was cooling even then. The Roman windows sat open, and I knew when I stepped through them onto the balcony what I would find.

Isaak lay curled upon himself, an old habit I'd yet to break him of, his hair sticking to him in congealing blood. He had only the faintest heartbeat, and looking down upon the pretty broken thing I almost let him go.

Almost.

Without Isaak though, everything would fall into ruin, I knew that. There was much to the world and to life that I no longer remembered, or understood, and Isaak navigated all these things for me, as well as finding pretty little unsuspecting Methuselah for me to feed upon. And clothing me. And housing me. And slowly but surely conjuring my body back together fully, helping me to regain my strength.

What is a God without an acolyte?

I knelt down on my haunches, and reached out my right hand to him. When I stroked a bit of hair out of his face, his eyes fluttered open, and vaguely lit upon me. He didn't know what he'd done, he didn't know why he was dying.

I smiled at him, watching his consciousness fade away, and I let him go.

I pierced between my thumb and index finger, and pushed the tiny wound between Isaak's lips, knowing the hole would begin to heal quickly, but also knowing my Panzer Magier would need only a little. As an afterthought, I let one drop of my blood fall on both the gashes that had destroyed Isaak's arms, then I picked him up and carried him to bed.

I was certain that my mage would recover easily and well as I lay next to him, wondering why he'd go and do so silly a thing. In the four years we'd been together I'd witnessed Isaak become irate over the littlest things, his compulsions pushing him to the border of madness daily. He'd always been apart, and I knew it was my presence that had finally given him true meaning, true reason. I was the only beacon in his dreadfully stormy mind.

The fits and the rage had become increasingly pathetic over the past few weeks though, so I'd opted to leave for awhile to clear my head. I'd left him for fewer than five days, and this was what happened.

Through Augustine of the Fleur du Mal, I'd heard the strangest rumor of a town village gone missing. Without telling Isaak, I'd left on my own, curious.

The people hadn't disappeared though, and it was a wonder any Methuselah could think they had. They'd simply relocated wholly, to the manor of the local nobles.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that all the village people were being manipulated, unwillingly posed through their days at the whim of a gleeful child. I spent two days watching the boys' puppets bend and twist, their mouths screaming as their bodies were forced against them, or some that could not speak at all, and then others who were nothing anymore but a toy, all sense of self gone.

The boy employed sophisticated methods, and it was my desire to question Isaak about this child-before the inquisition found him-that turned me homeward again. Isaak would know what the boy was, how he did what he did. Isaak would help me make the next move, like he always did.

I had found him mostly dead though. His moping had evolved into suicide, and my mage, my lover, my new other half, had been so devastated he'd tried to leave me forever.

Isaak's heartbeat was strengthening every moment, but even with my nano-machines his body would remain weak for days, and he would not wake for hours.

I reflected upon our need for each other, and how to cure his desperation for my constant accompaniment. He was a social creature really, whether he despised all terran and Methuselah or not. I needed a symbol, I needed proof-cement. I needed something that Isaak could not deny, could not misinterpret. Something that showed how I really cared.

We needed a child.


	2. Chapter 2

At first I was scared. I hadn't noticed him, or felt his strings, and suddenly, there he was. We stared at each other for a second, and I tried to pull, but there was nothing there. I must have looked surprised, because he laughed and put his hand out for me, and I took it.

The world was spinning and the wind was blowing and I heard myself ask him if he was an angel, and he laughed again. I knew he was flying, carrying me, so I opened my eyes and looked down. I didn't see much, and then we were standing on the ground again, as though nothing had ever happened. I fell down.

After a little while, I looked up and the angel was still staring at me. I met his gaze, and thought to myself that he was always smiling.

"Tell me, how did you kill your family?" So he knew. Of course he knew. Why else would he choose me?

I shrugged. "With my strings. They were afraid of being investigated by the inquisition, and they hated me. It's not like I asked to be born, it's not like I ever wanted to be part of this world anyway. I hate it. I hate everything. If I could, I'd kill everybody, and burn down their homes-or just burn down their homes so that they had nobody to care about them either." I glared at him defiantly, daring him to judge me, to say anything.

"Really?" He asked me, one eyebrow raised. I nodded. "I want you to stay here for awhile. Maybe one day you'll get your wish, to burn down the world."

"What do I have to do?" Even as young as I was, I knew nothing came for free.

"You will work for me. We will help each other, you'll see."

"Oh. Ok." I was suspicious, but what could I say? An angel wanted me to help him, and promised to help me kill everyone, and that was all I really wanted, to avenge myself against the entire world.

"Do you have a name?"

"Of course I have a name! Doesn't everyone? I am Dietrich Von Lohengrin. Don't you have a name?"

"Contra Mundi." I stared for a second, then I accepted it. So Contra Mundi it would be.

Moments stretched out awkwardly, but the serene smile never wavered from his lips. Finally, he spoke again.

"I want to introduce you to somebody. He will be your teacher, and you will be his companion when I am away."

He moved to walk into the house I now noticed for the first time, but I stood still.

"What do you mean by 'companion'?" I didn't like the sound of this, and I was getting ready to run.

"Like a pet, sort of. Isaak cannot be alone you see, and neither can you. It would be impractical to hire a staff for you to manipulate and control to take care of you and keep you alive. It's much simpler now for Isaak to take care of you, it will give him a sense of duty."

"A pet?"

"Yes. A pet."

"But I'm a boy. I'm not a puppy."

"Terran boy. Canine boy. I don't see a difference." And with finality, he strode through the door, and I knew it was too late to change my mind, too late to get away, so I followed. Besides, for all my dreams coming true, what wouldn't I give?


	3. Chapter 3

The room was spinning wildly when I opened my eyes, and it was too bright. I called out for Cain, I know I did, but he never came. My veins burned, and my mouth and throat were enflamed. The faintest hint of copper lingered upon my palette, and I knew that it was Cain's blood, and that it was changing me, again.

So he'd come home, and was already gone.

I hated him.

My agony flowed and ebbed as I writhed upon the sheets, thrashing against consciousness. I could see Cain in my mind, laughing at me, calling me a pretty little broken thing again, because that was all I would ever be to him. The despair was going to consume me, I could feel it, and already I was contemplating how much blood I'd need to lose to be free of him, truly free, to where he couldn't keep trapping me in my body with his strength.

I pulled myself upright, and ripped at the bandages on my wrists. What I saw filled me with instant rage, and overwhelmed me with my own impotence. No wounds. No cuts. Not even so much as a scratch. Of course though, it wouldn't suit Cain to have his toy marred at all, no.

My body was shaken by great wracking sobs, and I twisted my hands in my hair, trying to get the world to rescind, trying to fade into the shadows and be swallowed by the darkness I felt inside. Then he kissed my forehead.

"Isaak, really. What would I do without you?" That. Goddamn. Smile.

Cain's eyes were too blue to look away from, his face too blissful. Pleased I was awake, pleased I was alive, he wore his victory upon his lips, too serene to be human, too beautiful to be Methuselah. Cain was my God, and my curse.

I loved him.

"Don't say anything, I know already." And he pulled me into his chest and petted my hair. I allowed myself to be overcome by my tears, and I gave up to him. I would let it all go, because Cain would not let me go, because he needed me.

What is an acolyte without a God?

At length, my tears had run dry, and Cain pulled back from our embrace. He gave me his standard half-smile, and cocked his head to the side slightly.

"You were lonely, Isaak. I don't blame you." And abruptly, as though nothing had ever happened, Cain stood, and left the room.

After my door had swung shut, I waited only a minute before standing and dressing. Cain was ambiguous as always, and whatever he wanted from me, it did not involve staying in my bed.

Stepping into the corridor, I could just barely make out the sounds of Cain speaking to someone. Tentatively, I walked forward, certain in the pit of my stomach that I'd been replaced, that Cain was going to drive a stake through my heart.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I found inside my study.

Cain was seated with a young boy in his lap, reading aloud some of my notes. Neither of them had noticed me yet, or the awestruck expression on my face.

"Sounds like he thinks too much, don't you think Contra Mundi?" The boy sounded delighted, too intelligent for so-small a body.

"Not at all Dietrich, not at all. You see, when someone is capable of brilliance, that should be their duty. Do you not find these ideas intriguing?"

"Well everyone knows the Vatican shouldn't be in control of things, and that the state of affairs in the Empire isn't any better, at least not for Terrans. That's not that special."

"You don't appreciate the blatant nihilism? His utter desire for everything to end? It's genius, and you'll recognize that soon enough."

"If he's a nihilist, then how can he believe in you?"

"Cain is God. How could anyone not believe that?" Their heads snapped up when I spoke, and this child who had presumed to judge me now saw me for the first time. An endless awkward silence followed.

Finally, Cain's perpetual bliss returned, and he stood up, absently letting the boy fall to the ground. I had never taken my lord for a pederast, nor considered that he'd start bringing catamytes home with him.

"Isaak Fernando Van Kampfer, shall I introduce Dietrich Von Lohengrin. Just a little something to show that I care, and that you're never alone." I was astounded, certain that I was lost in some blood loss induced delirium, and before I could do or say anything, Cain was holding my face in his hands, and his tongue was slipping into my mouth. I could feel the boy's eyes burning into me, and I was trapped entirely in the moment.

As all things with Cain though, one can predict nothing. The apparent eternity passed too quickly, and Cain was saying something about how he should have perhaps gift-wrapped Dietrich, and that of course I could change his name if I wanted. And wasn't a boy better than a puppy anyway?

The horror of it all struck me, and I found myself caught in the gaze of my new pet, a six year old boy, who was brimming with death, no life within him. And Cain prattled on merrily, as though I'd never tried to kill myself, as though he'd not kidnapped some child.

Not for the first time, I considered my sanity, and just how far it had to have slipped.

Somehow, through the haze of the situation, and all my shock, I heard the boy say something, into my mind. "Now I will be your best friend, because I'm your puppy, Isaak Von Kampfer." And the smile on my new pet's face was too angelic to trust.


End file.
